The diagnosis of disease in medical practice requires testing of bodily fluids, particularly blood. In physician offices, laboratories, and in the hospital setting, blood and other bodily fluids are aspirated from the individual patient using a syringe with an attached hypodermic needle. The hypodermic needle, with blood or bodily fluid contained in the attached syringe, is then inserted through a rubber stopper into an evacuated test tube. The fluid is drawn immediately into the tube from the syringe, through the hypodermic needle.
The health care worker who introduces the syringe/hypodermic needle combination into the test tube, typically holds the test tube in one hand while attempting to insert the needle with his or her other hand. This creates an inherent risk of being stuck with the contaminated needle and being infected with various diseases, in particular Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) and hepatitis, both of which can cause debilitation and death. This may be avoided by providing a shield between the hand and the needle.
An example of such a system is disclosed in Mears U.S. Pat. No. 4,982,850. This patent discloses a hand-held holder for a plurality of tubes. The tubes are inserted for each use by the health care worker into receptacles which form a shield protecting the health care worker's hand while the syringe/needle is inserted into the test tube. This system is cumbersome in that it requires that the device be located, manually loaded with test tubes for each use, and then used in quite hectic situations such as major resuscitations of a trauma victim in the hospital emergency department.
In this chaotic environment, the health care worker is at greatest risk for contaminated needle sticks. Likewise, in this situation, the health care worker will be least likely to provide for his or her own safety. Use of a manual shield requires additional actions (as noted above) which decrease time available to care for the patient. Such use of a hand-held device is also inconvenient, potentially limiting its use by the health care worker in non-life threatening scenarios as well.